Microbial Flora, Proximate Composition and Vitamin Content of Juices of Three Fruits Bought from a Local Market in Nigeria

Ositadinma C. Ugbogu and Alloysius C. Ogodo

Abstract—Microbial flora, proximate composition and vitamin content of juices of three fruits bought from a local market in Nigeria were investigated. The assessment of the yeast and bacteria flora of the juices of the fruits revealed the presence of Candida pseudotropicalis, Candida tropicalis, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Trichosporon asashii, Rhodotorula glutinis, Erwinia herbicola, Serratia species, Staphylococcus saprophyticus, Enterococcus faecium and Leuconostoc species. Candida pseudotropicalis and Saccharomyces cerevisiae were present in all the test fruits, Candida tropicalis was present in watermelon and banana, Trichosporon asashii was present in pawpaw, watermelon while Rhodotorula glutinis was present in pawpaw fruit only. Erwinia herbicola was present in pawpaw and banana, Serratia species was present in pawpaw and watermelon while Staphylococcus saprophyticus was isolated from all the test fruits. The proximate analysis of the test fruits revealed them to be poor sources of protein but with high moisture content that ranged from 76.92±0.04% to 92.93±0.10%. The carbohydrate content ranged from 4.89±0.03% to 21.76±0.02%. The analysis of vitamins showed that the test fruits were good sources of vitamin A, B1, B2, C, D, E and K with values ranging from 0.009±0.01mg/100g for vitamin D in banana to 45.4±0.02mg/100g for vitamin C in pawpaw fruit.